The Chicago Theatre opened on October 26, 1921, built by Balaban and Katz as part of a chain of movie palaces. Cornelius W. Rapp and George L. Rapp of Rapp & Rapp were the architects. It cost $4 million. The seven-story building occupies nearly half a city block on a site of less than one acre.
The exterior is off-white architectural terracotta, with a six-story triumphal arch motif on a State Street facade about 60 feet (18 m) wide. A Tiffany stained-glass window with the Balaban and Katz emblem fills the central arch. The five-story grand lobby is French Baroque in style.
The theater closed in September 1985 and reopened on September 10, 1986. Its capacity is 3,600 seats, down from 3,880 at opening. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and became a Chicago Landmark in 1983.
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